Chimera Ants are a species of insect classified as a Level 1 Quarantine Designation.
These creatures employ a reproductive method known as 'Phagogenesis', where they consume other organisms to pass on the genetic traits of those organisms to their offspring.
During the feeding and mating process, the Chimera Ant Queen, which is responsible for reproduction, selectively targets species with strong genetic traits.
Once it identifies a species that satisfies its criteria, it will continuously consume that species until it drives it to extinction.
Thus, Phagogenesis is an extremely terrifying method of biological reproduction.
However, since the Chimera Ant Queen is typically only ten centimeters long, the species' danger level is considered manageable and does not pose a threat to the current ecosystem or humanity.
Yes.
Under normal circumstances.
A ten-centimeter-long Chimera Ant Queen is indeed nothing to worry about.
But-
What if the Chimera Ant Queen is more than two meters long?
"It could even eat humans, couldn't it?"
Deep within a dense forest in NGL, Pokkle bit down hard on his thumb, his eyes trembling slightly, and a layer of fine sweat formed on his forehead.
Beside him, Ponzu, Geretta, Urtaido, and more than ten other team members shared similar reactions, unable to hide their fear.
As a rising Wildlife Exploration Team, they have worked very hard during this period and have made good impressions on the various commissioning agencies with their excellent skills and efficiency in completing the commissions.
All these achievements are largely due to Pokkle's arrangements and coordination, as well as intelligence integration.
Thus, after receiving valuable eyewitness reports, Pokkle enthusiastically led his team into the NGL Autonomous Region.
It's worth noting that biological investigation reports are generally shared among commissioning agencies and eventually provided to teams specializing in biological investigation.
Therefore, Pokkle's team wasn't the only Wildlife Exploration Team in the NGL Autonomous Region, and five other teams had also arrived.
However…
Pokkle's team had lost contact with the other five Wildlife Exploration Teams, and not long ago, they had encountered a Chimera Ant Peon.
Although they managed to defeat the Chimera Ant Peon without major incident, a terrifying reality was now revealed to Pokkle's team.
"This is truly unimaginable, but judging by the size of that Chimera Ant Peon, the queen is definitely not in a normal state..."
Pokkle wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly glanced at his companions, who were equally frightened, and said in a trembling voice:
"I also wish my judgment was wrong, but even so, you all saw how those Chimera Ant Peons were hunting humans. This matter is already beyond our capabilities."
"Then let's withdraw from NGL immediately and relay this information to the outside world."
Geretta suggested, his eyes filled with seriousness behind his sunglasses.
Ponzu, who had just recalled her swarm of bumblebees into her hat, said with uncertainty, "The other investigation teams have lost contact. They're probably... I also think we need to leave NGL as soon as possible."
NGL is an autonomous region that advocates natural life and rejects all forms of mechanical civilization.
Therefore, anyone applying to enter this place are not allowed to bring any mechanical devices.
If someone is caught sneaking in prohibited items, the most common punishment is the death penalty.
This shows how seriously NGL takes this rule.
Due to this rule, no one entering the region can bring communication devices like phones or walkie-talkies.
However, Ponzu can use her bumblebees to relay simple messages, which is also how they communicated with the other investigation teams.
However, the appearance of numerous second-generation Chimera Ant Peons and the loss of contact with the other teams undoubtedly indicate the severity of the situation.
The most important thing is-
Being in NGL, they were unable to contact the outside world immediately.
This is the fundamental reason why Geretta and Ponzu believe they must leave NGL as soon as possible.
Because they are already familiar with all the information regarding Chimera Ants, they can deeply understand the terror of large Chimera Ants.
Now, those Chimera Ant Peons are already hunting humans...
Just imagining large Chimera Ants with mixed genes from humans, beasts, and insects is enough to send chills down Pokkle and his team's spines.
Not to mention, Chimera Ants have a hierarchical structure.
The Chimera Ant they encountered earlier wasn't difficult to deal with.
But that was just a Peon at the lowest level of the hierarchy. Above it are Officers, Squadron Leaders, and Royal Guards, creatures that have absorbed even stronger genetic traits.
Additionally…
They must consider the sheer number of Chimera Ants.
No matter from which point of view, it was warning them to leave quickly.
"Hmm…"
Pokkle pulled out a simple map and said solemnly:
"We can temporarily ignore the possibility of encountering Chimera Ant Peon and choose a route that will get us to the border the fastest."
As the saying goes, speed is of the essence in war. As a professional Beast Hunter, Pokkle realized the heavy responsibility his team now bore.
He understood the many characteristics of Chimera Ants.
Therefore, he knew they had to relay this information before the Chimera Ants grew too powerful, allowing a specialized extermination team to arrive in NGL as quickly as possible and eliminate this potentially mutated Chimera Ants threat in its infancy.
With this in mind, he also considered the strength of the Chimera Ant Peon they had recently killed.
For their team of four Nen Users, the risk they take when encountering a small number of Chimera Ant Peons is almost within an acceptable range.
Therefore, prioritizing speed and efficiency was the obvious choice.
"Anything is fine, as long as we can get out of here quickly!"
A man named Benbo in the team said with agitation.
There are twelve people in this Wildlife Exploration Team. Aside from Pokkle, Geretta, Ponzu, and Urtaido, who are Nen Users, the others are amateur hunters like Benbo, who had no knowledge of Nen.
However, Benbo's strength was among the weakest in the group, making him the most insecure member.
Because of that, his strong desire to leave NGL as quickly as possible was understandable.
Pokkle glanced at Benbo but said nothing. Instead, he quickly drew a route on the simple map.
"Let's go."
After marking out the route they are going to take, Pokkle double-checked it and then put the map away, his slightly immature face filled with seriousness.
As the team prepared to leave NGL, Benbo and a few other insecure members managed to calm down slightly.
Benbo took a deep breath and asked, "Which direction are we..."
His words were cut off mid-sentence. His face froze, and his wide eyes are filled with confusion.
'Why couldn't I speak suddenly...'
'And why does my body suddenly feel so cold?'
Feeling confused and disoriented, Benbo didn't realize that a chunk of the back of his head was missing, nor could he see the shattered red and white matter inside.
The confusion in his eyes froze quietly, and he collapsed to the ground powerlessly, turning into a corpse.
At this moment-
Everyone else in the group tensed up.
Before he died, Benbo hadn't realized his head had been attacked from behind, but the others saw a shadowy figure flash past him, accompanied by a faint, pungent smell. Then, they saw a spray of blood erupt from the back of Benbo's head.
It was an ambush!
Pokkle, Ponzu, Geretta, and Urtaido's pupils contracted sharply as they quickly entered combat mode, opening their Aura Nodes and releasing the maximum amount of Manifested Aura to coat their bodies.
The other team members, who didn't know Nen, were equally shocked, but they also reacted and quickly adjusted their positions to prepare for battle.
"What... is that!?"